Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-06
DAILY HERALD.
A Talk with the Inventor OF the
Dynamite GUN.

Lieutenant Zalinski's experiments
in New York with the dynamite gun
have made profound impression in
Washington, where it is believed that,
il the principles he has laid down are
carried out to their legitimate conclu-
sions, war will be made 80 deadly
that no nation will dare appeal to any
other power than arbitration.
Lieut.. Zalinsik says himself regard
ing the experiments: 81 do not
claim everything for the gun. All
the objections urged against it, as far
as aiming are concerned, are equally
applicable to any other gun. Brains
and experience are just as necessary
in handling it as in handling powder
gun, and the accuracy of aim can be
calculated just as nicely. The dyna-
mite gun is light, and the range can
be quickly adjusted. Unlike other
guns, it is not intended to kill
individuals or do local damage ;
it is a wholesale destroyer, and
if the projectile strikes anywhere near
the object at which it is thrown, it is
sure to do considerable injury. 1t is
true that I had quite little time to
get the range of the target in Tuesdays
test, and knhw its exact distance from
the gun, but if it had been necessary l
could have adjusted it just as well in
q few seconds. The long interval be-
tween shots was necessitated by the
lack OF loaded projectiles, and not by
the loss of compressed air, as was
stated. l had 1000 pounds of COM
pressed air at the fort, and although
using 600 pounds to discharge the
gun, only lost about 100 pounds each
time. My explosive gelatine was late
in arriving, and the consequence was
that had to fill the cartridges as l
used them. Had the cartridges been
ready could have projected them as
rapidly as could any other gun.
"The danger connected with hand
ling and storing the explosive gelatine
with which the projectiles are loaded
is not so great as to make the use OF
TIE gun Objectionable on that score.
Properly handled the gelatine is not
any more likely to explode than gun
powder. As long as have been ex-
perimenting with the stuff l have
never had single accident.
1ins members of the Pneumatic
Gun Board have requested me to re-
frain from firing the guns myself and
to let some one else do it. | have al'
ways refused to do this, holding that
such an action would imply that there
was danger which 1 myself really
did not feel. have also been asked
to use lanyard in firing the gun, and
that l occasionally do; in fact, I used
one in firing the first loaded cartridge
on Tuesday.
"For storing the gelatine magazines
could be devised which would protect
it much more thoroughly than gun
powder. By the way, noticed an
objection made yesterday in print
which has been frequently urged be-
fore. 1t was claimed that the distance
to which a projectile could be thrown
by pneumatic gun was so short that
a fleet could lombard fort and des-
troy it while still out of range of the
dynamite missile. That is all nonsense.
It is pretty well known
by men who are versed
in the use of implements of modern
warfare that no gun afloat can be
made to throw a shell with anything
like accuracy at distance of two
miles. With the gun l used Tuesday
/ can throw a projectile loaded with
100 pounds of explosive gelatine two
miles, and the gun that is now being
constructed will throw a missile con-
tanning 600 pounds of gelatine the
same distance. ."-[New Orleans Times
Democrat.